Paint­ing is given royal treat­ment

A new por­trait of the Queen has gone on dis­play at the Palace of Holy­rood­house.

The oil paint­ing of the monarch in her grand cer­e­mo­nial robes and col­lar of the Or­der of the This­tle now hangs in the Royal Din­ing Room, which is still used by the Wind­sors for en­ter­tain­ing.

The back­ground to the im­age, by artist Nicky Philipps, is a view of Sal­is­bury Crags – a se­ries of cliffs in nearby Holy­rood Park.

Holy­rood­house, in Ed­in­burgh, is the Queen’s of­fi­cial royal res­i­dence in Scot­land, and the por­trait was com­mis­sioned by the Royal Col­lec­tion Trust as part of a pro­gramme of in­vest­ment to en­hance the vis­i­tor ex­pe­ri­ence.

Philipps, who has painted the Queen be­fore, as well as Princes Wil­liam and Harry, said of hav­ing worked on the com­mis­sion: “It’s nerver­ack­ing, but it is enor­mous fun.”

Vis­i­tors to the palace will be able to see the por­trait in the or­nate din­ing room with its sage green walls and ta­ble dressed with can­de­labra.